The Wine Auction Market Results for 2014

Sotheby’s Wine Market Report – The
Highlights of 2014

Sotheby’s, one of the world’s top two auction houses,
recently released its wine market report for 2014. Each year, Sotheby’s
compiles the sales data from its wine auctions and tells an interesting story
about buying wine from the auction market, and where the trends are headed. It
doesn’t make top French or U.S. wines any cheaper, but it lets you know where
to put your money if you ever decide to take out a mortgage on your house! In
all seriousness, though, the report makes for interesting reading and there are
some curious trends making an impact on traditional markets.

Top Sellers of
2014

One thing that hasn’t changed is the dominance of
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The Burgundy powerhouse remains top of the total
auction sales for Sotheby’s wine, racking in a massive USD$8.9 million in sales
in 2014. It’s an increase of 24% on 2013 sales, and helps them remain number
one. Of the ten top-selling producers, three hail from Burgundy – the rest come
out of Bordeaux. It tells us that Bordeaux wines are the clear leaders in
re-sale and collecting value overall. The most interesting point of the top-ten
table is the arrival of Joseph Drouhin, clearly making waves in the eyes of
collectors. The producer moved from 48th position to 10th
in 2014, and all eyes will be on Drouhin in the next few vintages to see
whether prices rise alongside auction sales. Drouhin sales increased 545% at
auction in 2014 compared to 2013.

Bordeaux wine
sales

Pétrus moves from 2nd to 1st in
the 2014 rankings, and apart from this point, there is really just a re-shuffle
of the existing top ten. There are no newcomers, and therefore no losers in
this year’s rankings. What is worth noting is drop in value of Haut-Brion at
auction, which fell from 3rd in 2013 to 7th in 2014. Of
course availabilities of wine at auction effect rankings, but we should wait to
see if this is a sign of a longer-term trend.

Burgundy wine
sales

The two arrivals in the Burgundy top ten are Joseph
Drouhin and Domaine Georges Roumier. Drouhin, as we saw, had a meteoric rise in
2014, and moved from 13th to 3rd in the Burgundy rankings
in 2014. As I said, this might simply mean more availability of desirable
vintages in 2014, or the sign of a longer-term rise in Drouhin values. Watch
this space! As for Roumier, their rise is almost as impressive, moving from 12th
to 5th. There are obviously losers in this ranking, and grabbing
hold of wines that have slipped out of the top ten might just save you some
money in the short-term.

Champagne sales

No surprises here – Krug leads the way, but swaps spots
with Dom Pérignon compared to 2013. The rocket in the group is Veuve Clicquot,
moving from 12th to 7th in 2014. All other houses in the
top ten simply changed positions, but within the top 10, Salon made the biggest
move, rising from 8th to 4th.

U.S. wine sales

The big story in the U.S. market is the slump in Opus
One sales. The Napa giant fell from 1st in 2013 to 6th in
2014, but as with all sales, this might simply be due to the availability of
the best vintages at auction. The biggest mover was Peter Michael, moving from
13th to 7th, and pushing Bryant Family wines down one
spot. Sine Qua Non holds a powerful position, moving from mid-table security in
2013 to premium 2nd position in 2014.

Italy wine
sales

All the big names are here, and make their presence felt.
Gaja (4th to 2nd), Ornellaia (2nd to 3rd),
and Sassicaia (3rd to 5th) are pretty much immovable.
There are surprises and stings in the tail, however. Bruno Giacosa surprised
everyone in 2014 with some really sterling sales, moving from 7th to
1st. Massetto has swapped spots with Giacosa, slipping to 7th
from 1st. Another great story for Italian wine is the variability,
and ability for newcomers to storm through. Luciano Sandrone leaves all before
him, storming through from 22nd in 2013 to 6th in 2014. Paolo
Scavino also makes waves, rising from 20th in 2013 to 9th
in 2014. Both Sandrone and Scavino’s Barolo is becoming highly desirable, and
shows the sheer investability of Barolo over the long term.

Where are the
buyers coming from?

The slump in sales originating from Asia continued in
2014, falling to 55% of sales in 2014 from 62% in 2013 and 70% in 2010. The
Bordeaux bubble has clearly burst and this is having an effect in resale
markets, where general confidence in Bordeaux is effecting auction sales. Indeed,
that Asian buyers only purchased 20% of wines sold in New York is the lowest
figure in the last five years. A sign of things to come?

Bordeaux v
Burgundy

As we saw in the Top Ten Sellers overall, Bordeaux and
Burgundy are the places to invest in. What is interesting however, is the
general rise in Burgundy prices versus the general fall in Bordeaux prices. Are
buyers looking for toward connoisseurship rather than chateau wines, or is this
a sign of the decline in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc
popularity? Time will tell!

Big selling
lots

The numbers for a big selling lot at auction are always
impressive. The big story last year was the 114-bottle lot of Domaine de la
Romanée-Conti, spanned the 1992-2010 vintages and sold in Hong Kong for
USD$1,609,776. The previous record for the biggest lot was 50 cases of 1982
Mouton-Rothschild, which sold in 2006 for USD$1.05 million. Probably the most
interesting sale was a vertical lot of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, spanning 1918-1996
and including 57 bottles. The lot sold at auction in Hong Kong for USD$102,083.

Who’s got the
money?

Overall in 2014, Hong Kong led the way with USD$28.8
million in sales, followed by London with USD$21.1 million and New York with
USD$15.4 million.

The auction market is alive and well, and were we to
look at Christie’s, I am sure we would see equally impressive results. Cellared
under the right conditions (as the best lots are from these auctions), wines
bought at auction will continue to impressive for long periods of time.

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I think I was captured by how essentially natural or organic the whole process of winemaking is. It's farming, it's viticulture, it's weather and soil, and many more things. It's the winemaker. But after all these things, after the cap is unscrewed or the cork popped, I (and you) get to enjoy it. Then we talk about it and learn some more. Which is, I guess, the reason why you're here! Here you'll find stories, links, wine education samples and wine reviews. I am entirely independent and my wine reviews and ratings are based on my own thoughts and opinions. I accept no endorsements for products or good reviews.
Enjoy! I can be reached for comments, feedback and questions at dbtaylor01@gmail.com.
Good drinking to you!
David